


Match

by seraphic_gate



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Handcuffed Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon, Roommates, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Sparring, Spoilers, This title is a bad pun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-10-28 00:42:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20769671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphic_gate/pseuds/seraphic_gate
Summary: After the Promare incident, Lio has to answer for his crimes as leader of the Mad Burnish.  In light of his role saving the world, he is let off easily with two years of probation—to be served in the care of Galo Thymos.  Lio might have preferred going to jail.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first promare fic. I hope it will be a long one. If you’d like to keep up with my updates and see some of my artwork, please follow @shippy_things on twitter. Thank you!

“This is bullshit.”

Aina laughed. “It’s funny when you curse, Lio.”

“Why is that?” 

“Because you look so elegant.”

The station was busy today, with everyone working on rebuilding. The first matter was getting the electricity figured out, and the electricians needed some protection from the dangers of collapsed structures. Only he and Aina had been able to spare the day to go to Lio’s hearing.

What a sham. Everything was so mixed up with the governor gone. The judge barely went over the evidence.

He supposed Lio was guilty of arson at least, and that’s what he got convicted with. They had decided to sweep any other crimes aside since any previous investigation signed off by Kray Forsight was out the window due to his conspiracies. He’d gotten off light.

“Well, it is bullshit, whether I look like I’ve got a foul mouth or not.”

Captain Ignis walked past them, grumbling something about where did Galo find this guy. Pretty rhetorical. Everybody knew who he was by now.

“It’s not like I’m into this idea either,” Galo said. He lifted his wrist to look at the bracelet. It was nearly weightless and close to the skin. The only nuisance about it was a small glowing blue light. “Do I have to wear this thing for two years?”

Lio turned his nose up. “If you didn’t want to, you shouldn’t have volunteered.”

“They were gonna send you to jail!”

Aina giggled. “Your matching bracelets are really cute.”

Lio had taken about enough again and began to stomp off in the direction of the main truck. “Are we rolling out, or what?”

Galo caught up with him in a few strides. “What do you mean _roll out_? We just spent all day in court, aren’t you tired?”

“If I have to be stuck with you, I may as well be useful. There’s a lot of people out there who need our help, so aren’t we going to go?”

A grin spread over Galo’s face. “Yeah, that’s the spirit!” 

“Wait, wait.” Aina called after them. “He has to do basic training first. It’s an emergency and we can use all hands on deck, but he’s got to learn the procedures before he can go on duty.”

Lio went all grumpy again at that. “Fine, so what do I have to do?”

“Well first, maybe change out of Galo’s old shirt and put on a uniform.”

“It’s not old,” Galo said. “I just don’t wear it.”

“If you’re going to be responsible for Lio, you’re going to have to buy him some new clothes. And feed him something other than pizza.”

Lio huffed at that. “I’m not a gerbil, I can take care of myself.”

Aina was the younger sister in her sibling relationship, but with the two of them, she definitely had that tone like an older one. “The two of you go put uniforms on, and I don’t want to hear a bunch of bickering!”

***

Lio came out of the locker room wearing a brand new fireman’s coat over a black tank top. The coat was too long for his arms. He had his mushroom of fluffy hair barely contained by a hard hat. 

“How did you get so cute all of the sudden?”

“Fuck you, Galo.”

Galo backed up just before Lio could step on his foot. “Hey, settle down!”

Aina joined them again now that they were dressed. She clapped her hands together. “Wow, Lio looks so cute!”

Lio cleared his throat and pushed the front of his jacket back down neatly. “Thank you.”

“How is it when she says it, it’s fine?”

Lio didn’t answer him. He completely ignored him and moved on. “Remember, I cant be more than 500 feet away from you or this thing will go off.”

Galo groaned. “Yeah, we’re stuck together.”

“So you should put me in a job that lets me stick by you.”

“That means getting you into rescue gear, or maybe...”

Aina caught where he was going with that. Her eyes lit up. “He could fly a rescue chopper like me!”

“Chopper?”

When Galo thought about that, the model that Aina used had an interface similar to a motorcycle. “Yeah,” he said, looking Lio up and down. “And he’s small enough you could train him in yours.”

Lio huffed at that. “You’re really trying to piss me off today.”

“Hey, it’s a compliment!” He clapped a hand on Lio’s shoulder. He was met with a look of chagrin, but smiled anyway. “You’re awesome on that bike of yours. I know you can do it!”

Lio brushed his hand off and averted his eyes down to the floor. “That was the promare.”

“But you were controlling it! You can work a real bike no problem, or even a plane! You can do anything, I know it.”

“Okay, lay off, geez.” Lio sighed. “Aina, if you’ll show me the ropes, I will fly a...” he forgot the word for a moment. “A chopper.”

Aina smiled at him. She seemed excited. It relieved Galo to see Lio forming bonds with the others. 

Gueira and Meis’s faces hadn’t been shown on television except for briefly, and even then, it was Lio who got all the attention. The world’s was as surprised as Galo had been to see a pretty face revealed from underneath the Mad Burnish’s mask. 

Lio was the only one with any street recognition. In court, he told the judge that his cohorts were dead. Since Kray Foresight had erased their records to serve his own needs, there was no trace of them.

As long as Lio accepted full responsibility for their crimes, the remaining burnish were free.

“You’re going to be great at it,” Galo said.

Lio rolled his eyes, but Galo was pleased to see a clever smirk on his face for the first time that day. “I don’t need you to tell me.”


	2. Training

Lio followed Aina to scaffolding that brought them around to the top of the aircraft. It was a small vehicle build for maneuverability. The pilot’s seat was similar to that of a motorcycle.

“You shouldn’t have much trouble,” she said as she popped open the hatch.

“I see.”

“First, let’s take this big coat off you. The hat is going to get in the way too.”

Lio discarded those items, tossing them aside. 

Aina smiled. “Okay! Go ahead and take a seat, see if it needs adjustments.”

Lio climbed down into the cockpit. He and Aina were about the same height, and they were both slender. He felt his legs slide into position. “Maybe a little lower.”

“The adjustments are on the dash.”

Lio found the ones he assumed she meant. None of them said “adjust chair” they just had little triangles on them. Up, down, left, right. He experimented pushing them and it didn’t take too much effort to figure out in which direction they manipulated the seat. He changed the angle just slightly so that he was comfortably in place. 

Aina reached down into the cockpit, hanging over the nearby platform and sticking her arm into the dash in front of Lio’s face. “This is the main sensor that will display how close you are to any structures. There is an emergency autopilot function here—“ She pointed to a red button. “If you have any kind of problem, you can always hit that and the jet will take you to the assigned location.”

Lio sat upright to face her. “So what do you do, exactly?”

“Right now, the first priority is getting electricity back on throughout the city. It’s been two weeks and most of Promopolis is still blacked out.”

Lio wondered about his people and how they were getting along out there in the dark.

“What I’ve been doing since then is pretty much helping to patrol the dark areas with my spotlight. The police are too overworked to keep the peace under these conditions, so every armored vehicle is doing the same.”

Lio sighed. “I see.”

“I was thinking that once you’re clear to fly, you might like to monitor around the Burnish camp.”

Lio looked up at her again. “You’d let me do that?”

“As long as Galo stays with you. Unfortunately it seems to be a hotspot for crimes of opportunity,” she said. “I’ve been keeping an eye on them, and it seems your friends are keeping everyone together. but I thought you’d like to see it yourself.”

Even just to be able to see them from the sky would be more than he could ask for. To see them. To know that they were safe. “Yes, I’d like that.”

“Okay! Well, let’s run some simulations first. If you can pass the trainee course, I’ll have the chief give you emergency clearance. It may take a few days, but I know you want to get out there.” She sat up and pumped her arm. “So I’ll train you really hard!”

***

Galo watched from another platform. He couldn’t hear them talking, but he could see Lio mounted in the cockpit. Coat discarded and in that riding position, it was clear to see there was some muscle to that skinny body of his.

Remi walked by him, chuckling to himself. “I heard you got yourself handcuffed to a burnish,” he said.

“Sorta.”

Remi sighed. “So this means you can’t go out in the field until he’s clear for duty?”

“That’s pretty much what it means.”

“I don’t know. If it were me, I might have just let him go to jail.”

That struck a sore spot in Galo that he didn’t know was there. He turned and leaned against the railing, sulking. “You just don’t understand.”

“No, I think I do. You two went through something life-changing.”

Everyone had. “Mostly for him. Can you imagine what it’s like to be a Burnish, and then have all that disappear?”

“But even you—“

The sound of Lio shouting curses at the ship’s computer interrupted them. Galo grumbles as he scratched his head, anxious. “Come on Lio, you can do this.”

Remi laughed softly and gave him a pat on the back. “I’ve got to go. Good luck with that.”

Galo groaned. If this didn’t work, it was going to crush Lio’s spirits. He wasn’t sure how the whole probation thing would work out if he couldn’t keep Lio by his side.

Besides that, he wanted Lio around. He wanted Lio to be a part of Burning Rescue.

***

The simulation was so damn annoying. One wrong press of any of these buttons and his score would plummet.

Aina poked her head in to see that he had made failing marks again. “Your score is better than last time, though,” she said. “Keep trying, nobody learns overnight.”

“Having to press buttons is so inefficient.”

Aina laughed awkwardly at that. “I guess I never thought of controlling it any other way.”

It took some effort for Lio not to punch the dashboard. He appreciated Aina’s offer to fly her beloved jet, he really did. 

He booted the program again. He just had to keep a cool head. Like with the flame. Completely different from that in every other way, but similar in that one way.

The next run finally brought him up to a D. Still a failing score, but improvement.

***

Hours passed and Lio wouldn’t come out of the simulation. It wasn’t until late in the afternoon when Aina was called for that he was forced to stop.

Galo had gone to take a nap in the bunks. He woke up to the sound of shower running.

Lio emerged wearing only a towel around his waist. “I need something to wear in bed.”

Galo snorted a laugh. “This isn’t a lingerie store.”

“Just give me a shirt, you ass. Aina said I could sleep in her bed as long as I showered and wore something clean.”

“Wow, she never lets anyone do that.”

“So give me a clean shirt.”

“Okay, okay.” Galo got up from his bunk and opened his locker. He kept a clean set of clothes in there. 

He threw the black tee shirt at Lio. It caught his head and hung over his fluffy hair for a second before he whipped it off. Galo chuckled, but he knew better than to call Lio cute again.

Lio stepped behind one of the partitions in the group quarters. Galo was used to changing around the other men, but not Lio. For some reason with Lio, he always felt he should avert his eyes. 

Lio emerged in his shirt, and although it reached to his thighs, Galo was all too aware that he wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

“Is she really going to let you use her bed with no underwear on?”

“She just said it needed to be clean.” He wrinkled his nose. “Are you sure this is washed?”

“Of course it is!”

“Why does it smell like you?”

Galo balked at that. “What does it smell bad?”

“No, it’s not bad.” Lio turned away and looked somewhere else. “It just has that Galo smell.”

Galo had a hard time processing that, especially if he said it with a little bit of a blush on his face. “Hey look, we can go back to my place if it would be easier for you. I have more clothes there at least.”

“No. The power is out there.”

“Okay, then I guess just deal with this.”

“I will.”

He took a step towards Aina’s bed. It was easy to spot, with its feminine style. Before he reached it he stopped and began to speak without turning to face him.

“Galo,” he said. “Thank you.”

Galo felt heat rush to his face and he began to stammer. “Don’t mention it!” Why was he being all jittery like this? “And tomorrow I’m taking you shopping for new clothes!”

Lio tucked himself into Aina’s blankets. “Looking forward to it.”

“Y-you are?”

Lio laughed. “Shopping with Galo Thymos, it’s every girl’s dream.”

“Hey, you don’t have to be snarky about it when I’m doing you a favor.”

The was no response except for the sound of deep, slow breath. Lio had fallen deeply asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Galo sighed and turned the room’s lighting to ambient mode. “Something life changing,” he mumbled to himself. “Got that right.”

***

Lio had a habit of falling asleep on command, but he wasn’t one to stay soundly asleep for long.

Too many years spent running. The voices of the fallen that called to him whenever he closed his eyes.

Aina’s bed was small, but soft and comfortable. He’d rarely ever slept in a real bed in his life. Always hidden away in tents or abandoned buildings. He didn’t even know his parents, let alone a childhood home.

He didn’t mind Galo’s smell. Kind of like how the street smells right before it rains. 

That’s what home was to him now.

Rather than toss around all night, he turned on a light and decided to review the books Aina had given him. In addition to acing the simulation, there would be a written exam.

Galo slept like a dead man, limbs tossed over the edges of a bed that wasn’t big enough for him.

At least he didn’t snore.


	3. Stylish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your kind and supportive comments. Feel free to send me questions and comments via twitter too! @shippy_things

When Galo woke the next morning, he found Lio sitting at a table nearby with his nose in a book.

He sat up and groaned. “What are you doing?”

“Networks are still shut down, so Aina pulled these old paper training manuals out for me.”

“No, I mean, why are you studying at the ass crack of dawn?”

Lio looked up from the book. His eyes were bright and alert as ever. In his morning stupor, Galo had forgotten about part. 

“Aina said that once I pass the exam, I can patrol the burnish camp in the chopper when she’s off duty.”

Of course. “You really miss them, don’t you?”

Lio turned back to the book. “Yes.”

“Okay, well wrap it up soon. I’m gonna shower and get breakfast, then we’ll go.”

He pulled himself out of his bunk and yawned, hands over his head. He scratched his chest and stumbled across the room. 

Lio chuckled.

“What?”

“Until you have your coffee in the morning, it’s like you revert to a primate.”

“Yeah so? That’s funny?”

“I thought you were a boundless fountain of energy all the time.”

Galo squinted, still adjusting to the morning light. “And you’re a morning person. That figures.”

***

While Galo was in the shower, Lio dressed himself again in the Burning Rescue uniform, since it was the cleanest thing on hand. 

Galo really did come out like a new man after a hot shower and a coffee. Clean shaven, his hair stuck up just the way he liked it. 

They left the station and went on foot to a shopping center nearby. Lio was surprised to hear that anything was open. Promopolis was in a state of barely contained chaos. 

People who had lost their homes huddled in street corners. Everyone who passed them was dirty and tired.

“Looks like homeless from other parts of the city are gathering here to take advantage of the electricity,” Lio said.

“Yeah, it’s really—“. Galo stopped and smiled. 

Lio followed the line of Galo’s sight and found what had put such a smile on his face. A bunch of people were gathered around a laundromat with a sign out front that said “free clothes wash.” The line wrapped around the block, but everyone was being orderly and respectful. Some were even passing out food.

Lio smiled, too. “People can be good, huh?”

“Yeah.”

***

“Where are we going to go shopping?”

Galo took a big breath of the fresh air and grinned. “There’s an underground mall that didn’t take any damage. I heard they are opening it up for people to come trade stuff, since the banks and most people’s jobs are still closed.”

“And what did you bring to trade?”

“These babies!” Galo opened his bag to reveal a set of collectible action figures. Lio had seen them lined up proudly on Galo’s dresser before.

Lio sighed. “Aren’t those kind of important to you?”

“They’re really valuable. Once a toy collector sees these babies, I’ll have enough tradable goods to buy you anything you need.”

“That’s not what I asked. It seemed like you cared about those a lot.”

“Don’t worry about it!”

Lio shook his head in dismay, but didn’t argue.

***

Lio was not shocked to discover that Galo’s figurines were pretty much worthless.

“But they’re limited edition, still in the box!”

The vendor was kind enough to explain that right now, nobody was buying or trading collectibles. They wanted things more like food, tools, etc.

They were kind enough, however, to let Galo use cash, even though the market was crashed and nobody knew right now how much a dollar would be worth when everything got settled. Lio was certain this kindness was due to the uniforms they were wearing.

People regarded them kindly. A few even shouted things like “all right, burning rescue!” Excitedly from across the crowd. 

Galo was suited perfectly to the role of hero. Lio wasn’t used to it.

Outside the underground mall, there was a vendor selling burgers hot off a charcoal grill. Lio and Galo sat down on a bench to eat a few for lunch. Lio had a big bag full of clothes which were used, but in decent condition.

“This is more than enough.”

Galo pouted. “Sure, I guess it’ll work.”

Lio sighed and pointed to his cheek to indicate the ketchup that Galo had smeared there on his face. “You even got to keep your toys, so why are you so down?” 

“First of all, these are not toys,” he said. 

“I’ve heard the whole ‘they’re collectibles’ argument about twenty times today. Skip that part and get to the point, please.”

He huffed. “I really wanted to get you one of those frilly shirts like you like.”

Lio had to take a second to verify he’d actually said that. Then he burst into laughter. He had to cover his mouth to stop burger bits from flying everywhere. “Galo, this isn’t the time for anyone to be thinking about style.”

“But that’s what you like to wear. It is, right?”

Lio stared back at him, trying to figure out what was going on in that big dumb brain. “You’re not wrong, but that’s hardly a necessity. We’re lucky to have clean clothes at all.”

“I know, but I wanted to, I don’t know, help you get your image back, I guess. The fearsome Mad Burnish, Lio Fotia!”

“Keep your voice down, idiot.” 

“Sorry.” Galo hushed himself. “But that’s just it, isn’t it? You can’t be yourself and I don’t like it.”

“Galo...”

“Yeah, what?”

Lio raised his arm and pulled the sleeve back to expose the electronic bracelet underneath. 

“This thing I got because of you...”

Halo slumped his shoulders and hung his head. “Yeah I’m sorry. Really, they couldn’t make it less obvious?”

Lio chuckled. “I was going to say, it’s shiny and black, isn’t it?”

Galo’s eyes widened as he realized what he was getting at. 

“This is the proof that I am Lio Fotia, leader of the Mad Burnish.”

Galo lifted his arm up and looked at his, too. “When you put it like that, it sounds really cool.”

Lio scoffed at that. “I thought you’d say there’s no way a firefighter like you can wear the Mad Burnish style.”

“If you can rock the Burning Rescue look, I guess I can give this a try.”

Galo was smiling warm and bright like he always did. His eyes sparkled as he inhaled another hamburger. Ketchup went all over his face.

Lio groaned and picked up a napkin to dab Galo’s mouth.


	5. Safety First

# Promare 4  
Lio practiced in the simulator for the rest of the day. He only had until Aina’s patrol shift started, then it was back to the books.

Amongst the things Galo had helped him acquire was a black shirt with a few holes in it. Fine for sleeping, and they’d gotten it for free. That and some sweatpants, and even a pair of slippers.

Galo sat at the edge of his bunk tapping his foot. Lio sighed. It was too early to sleep, and Galo was stuck in place until Lio was able to join the team. 

“Could you help me study?” He shifted across the floor so that he was sitting in front of Galo and held the book out.

As anticipated, Galo was eager to help. “Sure, what should I do?”

“Just ask the questions from the practice test.”

Galo opened the book to the marked page. “Okay. So if you are in a burning building, do you take the elevator or the stairs?”

“Stairs.”

“The correct answer is—use the fire-tech launcher!”

“No, it’s not.”

“Ok, you’re right. The books says you should take the stairs. But I mean, that would take forever, right?”

Lio laughed. “You’d fail this test if you took it honestly, huh?”

“Hey, I had to pass it or I wouldn’t be on the team.”

“Next question.”

“A fire is reported in a building, but you don’t see any smoke. Before opening the door, what should you do?”

“Check the temperature by touching the handle of the door.”

“Wrong! You should kick the door down as soon as possible!”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Galo laughed. “Of course I am! The thing is, we have all these gadgets now, like internal scanners, so we’d only ever do it this way if the tech went offline.”

“So this is pointless?”

“No, I’m not saying that. I think it’s good for you to learn old school safety stuff, since the possibility of being burned is kind of a new thing for you.”

Lio pouted. He knew to use potholders and not to touch pots on the stove, but the instinctual fear of heat wasn’t in him. 

“Okay.” Galo looked back at the book. “I’ve got a good one for you. If you should encounter burnish terrorists on the scene, what action should be taken?”

“Really?”

Galo was smirking at him. “Yeah, what should you do?”

Lio grinned and hugged his knee. “Well, I say you should run away in terror, otherwise you might get hurt.”

“I would never.”

“Oh, so it’s what would Galo Thymos do?” He tilted his head to the side and let his eyes narrow as he looked up. Galo was fun to tease, after all. “In that case, the answer is: Run in headfirst and challenge them to a duel with my very odd-shaped weapon.”

Galo clapped the book shut. “Wrong, you failed.”

“Oh yeah?”

Galo slid to the very edge of the bed and propped his arms on his knees like he was puffing up for a confrontation, still with that goofy grin on his face. “You should definitely run in and challenge them to a duel with your very cool and awesome-looking weapon.”

Lio searched himself for something to say, something to do that would fan this little flame between them. Something that would feed the desire burning in his heart. But in realization, he stopped. 

“Something wrong?”

Galo could always tell.

Lio flashed his eyes at him. “I’m not tired,” he said. “Do you want to go beat each other up?”

Galo laughed as he stood up and stretched his arms. “Thought you’d never ask.”

***

The sparring session became less playful as Lio realized his disadvantage. Galo was huge, and Lio didn’t have the flame to back up his swing anymore.

Burning anger sparked through him as he hit the ground again, totally wiped out. 

“Lio, come on,” Galo groaned. He sounded disappointed. “You can’t throw all of your weight into one punch like that.”

He really wanted to smack the disapproving look off Galo’s face. 

As he stood up, Galo’s eyes widened and he sucked in a breath. “Maybe we should take a break?”

“Why?”

“You hit your face on the ground...”

If Galo wanted him to use his weight and size to his advantage, he would. He swept his leg and Galo went down hard.

With Galo on the ground, he tackled and held his fist up to strike. If he wanted to punch Galo in the face he could, but he knew that it wasn’t Galo he was angry at. 

“That’s better,” Galo laughed sheepishly, signaling with his hands that he gave in. “Do more of that.”

Just like that, Lio felt his anger sapped away by Galo’s dumb smile.

He eased off. Galo sat up and leaned over him, frowning at Lio while scrutinizing his face. “I hope you don’t get a black eye.”

Lio batted his hand away from his cheek. “I told you to hit me for real.”

“I didn’t mean for you to get hit in the face, though. Stay here.”

Lio panted and caught his breath as Galo got up and disappeared into the supply room behind the gym. 

He rubbed the ridge of his brow where he’d hit the floor. It was tender there. 

Galo returned with an ice pack wrapped up in a cloth. He knelt and reached out to hold Lio’s chin still so that he could apply it.

Lio would rather do it himself, but he had to admit that treating wounds was something he’d never had to do before. 

Galo applied gentle pressure to the area with the ice pack. “Ok, just hold it there. Ten minutes at time.” 

Lio took it from him. “It doesn’t hurt that badly.”

“It’s going to leave a bruise, though.”

“Good. I’ve never had one.”

Galo balked. “Never?”

“I became a burnish when I was an infant, and since then my body has regenerated so fast, I’ve never had a bruise or a scab.”

Galo sat there considering that for a moment, and Lio just knew he was about to say something dumb.

“Do you get zits?”

“That’s the first thing you ask?”

“Well come to think of it, no wonder you have such a baby face if you don’t get zits, or creases, or anything.”

“Just when I thought I didn’t want to hit you anymore, you go and say something like ‘baby face’.”

“It’s a compliment!” He looked like he was about to laugh, then fell short and grumbled again. “Now I feel worse.”

“Why?”

“Well, your face was perfect up until now, and I’m the one who messed it up.”

He huffed a butter laugh. “You’re giving yourself too much credit if you think you could ruin my face.”

That got Galo laughing again. Lio couldn’t help but smile a little at it. 

***

They walked back toward the bunk room. It was getting late. Galo stretched his arms over his head, yawning. 

“That reminds me,” he said. “You are going to have to take the medical training, too.”

Lio groaned. “More training?”

“Remember, ‘rescue’ is always the most important part of Fire and Rescue.”

Lio fell silent thinking about that. Their footsteps echoed in the empty hallway. Even though the burnish were no more, the Burning Rescue crew were out there day and night helping to protect innocent people as the city was rebuilt. Even his own Mad Burnish brothers had taken to protecting the homeless who had gathered at the burnish encampment.

His own challenges were minuscule compared to the burden everyone else had undertaken.

“You hate not being out there, don’t you?”

Galo shrugged. “After everything that happened, I was due for a vacation anyway.”

“You’re lying.”

“Sorry. But don’t worry. It’s been fun getting to hang out with you. I feel like I’m getting to know you outside of the whole robot-piloting, world-saving sense.”

Galo punctuated the sentiment by giving Lio a firm clap on the back. Lio sighed in dismay at how idealistic he was, but Galo’s ability to see the bright side was something he could rely on.

“As the leader of the burnish, I need to adjust to everyday life in order to set an example for everyone.”

“Yeah, and I’ll support you all the way.”

***

Galo took his shower and did his nightly routine. Lio seemed surprised at how much work Galo put into his looks. Galo was more surprised at how little Lio was putting into his. He wondered if, like he was saying earlier about acne, if Lio would need to start taking better care of himself, or if that perfect skin of his was a genetic thing, burnish or no burnish.

When he came back to bed, he found Lio curled up in Aina’s bunk again. He grabbed one of his pillows and walked over. 

“Hey Lio, you asleep?”

Lio didn’t answer. The way he slept and woke up was like a light flipping on and off, Galo was kind of jealous.

He carefully lifted Lio’s head, trying not to wake him. But Lio had survivor’s instincts. His eyes opened as soon as Galo touched him.

“What is it?” His voice sounded so sleepy and his eyes were puffy, it was kind of cute.

“Keep your head elevated,” he said. “Then maybe that bruise won’t be so bad.”

Lio mumbled a soft sound and allowed him to slide the pillow under his head. While doing so, Galo’s hand brushed his cheek. His skin wasn’t just perfectly clear, it was really soft, too.

Kind of cold, though. He couldn’t help but notice.

He went back to his bed and whipped the blanket off. One he returned to Aina’s bunk, he draped it over Lio.

He was already sound asleep again.

Galo smiled. He was glad Lio was able to sleep. He had already started planning something for tomorrow. It was going to be a surprise. Such a surprise in fact, he wasn’t sure how he was going to pull it off, yet.


End file.
